Detroit City Council on recess but members eye new laws, changes before end of year

The Detroit City Council wrapped its final week in July before taking a month-long break but members are continuing to explore changes involving housing, retirees and stricter accountability measures toward business owners and facility operators before the end of the year.

In the last several months, the council banned most businesses in the city from refusing to accept cash, urged the state to propose gun-free zones and change tobacco laws in the city, and supported tax incentives for the $1.5 billion District Detroit mixed-use project. Council members are set to return in September, after Labor Day.

Here are some policies council members are expected to work on:

Holding business owners accountable

In response to a gas station shooting in May that authorities said occurred after a clerk locked the station doors in an effort to prevent theft, Council President Mary Sheffield is exploring tighter restrictions against business owners to prevent similar incidences, her spokeswoman Kayla Rice told the Free Press.

The proposed law would make it a misdemeanor to lock patrons inside any business against their will. The proposed ordinance, which Sheffield's office is drafting, would ticket business owners who violate the law. Sheffield is exploring other consequences the city can impose on violators.

Property tax reform

Discussions involving remedies for property owners who were overassessed on their tax bills are ongoing. Council members are identifying solutions to prevent it from hitting Detroiters again after a Detroit News investigation found the city overtaxed thousands of homeowners by at least $600 million between 2010 and 2016.

Sheffield eyed offering direct cash payments, such as checks, to affected property owners, but Detroit's law department said the city cannot reimburse Detroiters with general fund dollars because state law prohibits direct support from the general fund for private purposes. Using American Rescue Plan Act funding is also prohibited on matters which occurred prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office indicated the decision falls under the city's jurisdiction.

Remedies for retirees

Municipal city retirees faced significant losses since the city filed for bankruptcy and officials slashed their benefits to pay off debt.

Council member Fred Durhal III requested a report from the legislative policy division on the impact of pension cuts among retirees and whether the city could provide direct cash payments for retirees. A question of whether the city could tap ARPA funding for cash payments came up, however, the U.S. Department of Treasury specifically prohibits the use of funds toward pension funds. Mayor Mike Duggan's spokesman John Roach said in an email that funds also "can't be used to address issues that arose prior to the pandemic."

Cities such as Ann Arbor, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles allocated ARPA funds to provide directguaranteed income payments to "vulnerable populations," according to the report. Durhal's office is eyeing a similar measure as a potential remedy for retirees who need cash assistance.

Several retirees face challenges in covering various costs, including household and medical payments. Durhal's requested report suggests using ARPA funds through programs that provide direct payments to supplement retirees' income for help in paying utilities, housing aid or home repairs, or expanding medical coverage since funding pension payments is not permitted. The discussion is set to return in September.

Renaming Hart Plaza

Detroit's large public space along the riverfront may get a new name.

Hart Plaza, home to events such as the MoPop and Movement festivals, was named after former U.S. Sen. Philip Hart, who was a key supporter of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. But community members proposed a non-violent community space and asked a council member to dedicate one of the city's public areas for it, raising the possibility of Hart Plaza, as well as a new name.

Council member Mary Waters in July initially sought to name it after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. after constituents proposed the idea.

"They specifically said 'King' because of what he symbolizes, non-violence," Waters said.

After facing opposition during a council meeting, including from Sam Riddle, political director of the Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network, who publicly stood against it in a council meeting, Waters suggested changing it again.

"We'll offer a 'Hart-King Plaza' instead because they were so close. They had a good relationship." Waters said.

Changing the name of a public space requires a member of the public to submit an application and provide petition signatures for it to be considered, according to the mayor's office. The number of signatures depends on the space design. The city's general services department would consider it, then submit it to City Council with a recommendation to approve or deny the request.

CROWN Act

Michigan's Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN Act, bans discrimination against hairstyles often associated with race, such as braids, twists, locs and more. Sheffield on July 25 requested that council's legislative policy division prepare language to add the new law to Detroit's city code to secure the legislation in the event of a change at the state level.

Sheffield in 2020 requested the legislative policy division, which researches and reports policy analyses to the council, opine on the legality of creating local law that prohibits hair-based discrimination in the city of Detroit as an employer, according to her policy team. "Amending city code will specifically delineate race-based hairstyle discrimination as included in a finding of race discrimination," according to a statement from her office.

Fugitive dust ordinance

Council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero said she wants tighter restrictions on the city's fugitive dust ordinance, which prevents facility owners from discharging visible fugitive dust into the air.

The ordinance defines it as "solid particulate matter that becomes airborne by natural or human-made activities, excluding engine combustion exhaust and particulate matter emitted from a properly permitted exhaust stack equipped with a pollution control device."

Santiago-Romero is working through the details but aims to strengthen the current ordinance with further accountability measures in place for companies and facility owners regarding post-project work cleanup and emissions control, she said.

Santiago-Romero also hoped for a quicker resolution to her constituents' troubles of trucks idling in neighborhoods, leaving excess soot on their homes and vehicles, damaging streets and homes, and hindering their quality of life. But the policy will not be ready until early next year, Santiago-Romero said. Santiago-Romero did not reply to a request for more details on the delay.

City Council meets for a formal session every Tuesday on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at 2 Woodward Avenue in the auditorium or Committee of the Whole room. Anyone can watch sessions online or through the city's new DetroitConnected application.

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Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact her: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council set to return in September